


Poison

by spacedaydreamer



Series: safe end!junpei au [8]
Category: Zero Escape (Video Games), Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma - Fandom
Genre: Gen, i guess the threat of immediate death does that to a person, i'd forgotten how flirty junpei gets in this fragment, less 'depiction of violence' and more 'description of death via poison' but eh close enough, safe end!junpei au, safe end!ztd au, some lowkey aoipei flirting in this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-23 03:22:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9638750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacedaydreamer/pseuds/spacedaydreamer
Summary: The infirmary wasn't locked, but it was hardly like they could just walk out now. After all, if they didn't, then all of them would die.





	

Pain. All Junpei could feel was pain. It was as if every muscle in his body contracting in pain, an there was a horrid pain in his abdomen- his throat felt like it was on fire, and despite how much everything hurt, he was still conscious.

“C-Carlos… you… b-bastard…”

Speaking so was painful that he wondered if he might even start coughing up blood. It certainly felt possible… it was painful as hell, but he forced himself to look at Carlos and Akane one last time.

Wait… Akane?

Junpei’s eyes shot open, and he found himself in the same room as before. He’d been dreaming, then? No, it wasn’t just a dream. It was far too real to be a dream… which meant, he’d been watching the other Junpei. And if the other him was in this room when he died, then that didn’t bode well for him…

He heard Carlos and Aoi speaking, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he forced himself to his feet, and took a seat.

“The infirmary…”

Carlos was looking around, still dishevelled. It seemed that however he’d woken up hadn’t been much better than how Junpei had, given how pale he was.

“Guess we were locked in here while we were unconscious, huh?”

As if to mock Junpei, the door slid open right as he finished speaking, prompting Aoi to turn and look.

“Guess not.”

“So then, we weren’t locked in? What’re we here for, then?”

Neither Aoi nor Carlos had a response for him, so Carlos opted to instead check the time from the bracelet.

“Hmm, 18:10…”

“Greetings, C-team.”

Right on queue, all of them looked up at the ceiling. Zero’s voice had come over the speakers, distorted and impersonal as ever.

“How are you feeling? Before we begin, I shall tell you an old story… Seventeen years ago, a woman was killed. One day, about a month later, a male suspect was located and arrested for her death. He claimed innocence, but the jury found him guilty. The verdict could not be overturned, and thus the man was executed. In her grief, the man’s wife took her own life. Two young children were left behind…”

Aoi’s face clouded over as Zero told his story, hiding some emotion that Junpei couldn’t distinguish. It wasn’t confused, or angry… it was almost sad, in a way.

“We move to several years later. New DNA analysis results proved that the man’s claims were true. He was falsely convicted. The true culprit remains at large, their identity still unknown. Life is… simply unfair. Don’t you think?”

Well, that was the understatement of the century. Junpei crossed his arms and glared upwards. He knew it was pointless, it was hardly like a recording could answer him, but he glared anyways.

“Calamity can occur without warning. Say, perhaps one day you woke up and found yourself injected with poison.”

Junpei dig his nails into his arms. Zero couldn’t have… right?

“That’s not too odd to happen to someone… Just as it has to you, C-team.”

“Wh-what?!”

He could see the horror on Aoi and Carlos’s faces, but all he could feel was dread. He already knew how painful this death was, he didn’t want to experience it again- shit, they had to find an antidote, or something! There was no time, no time…

“If you do nothing, the six of you will fall asleep, only to never regain consciousness again.”

“Six…?”

Aoi was deep in thought, but he jumped a bit when Junpei spoke up.

“Rrrgh, _Fuck you_ , asshole!”

Shouting wouldn’t accomplish anything, but it _would_ make him feel a bit better. And in a situation like this, he’d take all the little victories he could get.

“The antidote is in that room. Find it- and good luck.”

There was something sickening to how patronizingly sweet Zero’s voice was as he finished speaking. Their lives were nothing more than toys to him, he clearly didn’t care if all of them died- revolting.

“We’ve been poisoned?”

“Well, we can’t be entirely sure of that… we only have Zero’s word.”

“No Aoi, Zero wasn’t lying. There’s no doubt in my mind, we’ve been poisoned.”

Both of them turned to look at him, but he didn’t back down.

“Well, I guess it makes sense to look for the antidote regardless. I’d rather be safe than sorry in a situation like this…”

Junpei nodded, and the three of them dispersed. Shoving a hand into his pocket, he gripped onto the box he kept hidden, muttering a few more words, for only himself to hear.

“I didn’t make it to today just to end like this… I need to do what I’m here to do. I _can’t_ die.”

“You’re right. Let’s all get through this together. We’ll find the way to stay alive.”

He felt Carlos’s hand on his shoulder, and he turned to look- it seemed as if the other had overheard him. Carlos gave him a determined smile, and Junpei found that he was able to manage a small, if perhaps slightly forced, smile.

Their first scan of the room revealed a can of luminol, a syringe, and a barcode reader. They were examining the pieces individually, but the items themselves weren’t at all unusual. They were probably just necessary for completing other puzzles, then…

“Hey Junpei, maybe I should stick you with this? Might drain out that attitude of yours.”

“I’d rather you don’t get near me with that, you might’ve slipped some soporil inside.”

“Why would I need to do that, when the bracelets already provide that service?”

Junpei sighed and looked away from Aoi, his eyes catching on a white doctor’s coat hanging on the wall.

“If you put _that_ on and ask again, maybe I’ll let you…”

Aoi gave him a blank stare while Junpei went to examine the coat, finding a stethoscope hanging with it. He shot Aoi a smug grin, shrugging his shoulders.

“Or maybe I should put it on, then I could check for your heartbeat…”

“Junpei, are you trying to get my shirt off?”

“What? No…”

“Would you two focus again?”

Carlos had broken up their conversation(?), pointing at the lockers in the room. It would appear that during their little talk, he’d been experimenting with the luminol, and there was a _big_ reaction. Like, covering the entire floor, as well as smeared on the lockers-level of big. Junpei gave a half-impressed whistle, walking over to take a look.

“It’s glowing awful strong. I doubt it’s from real blood, though.”

Luminol typically needed a dark room to work, and while this room was dim, it was still pretty bright. Junpei figured it was probably something else designed to work similar for the sake of the puzzle (and to freak them out)- well, you’d have to try harder than that then, Zero. Still, Carlos looked pretty relieved when Junpei clarified.

“Well, we should input those codes, huh? Looks like there’s one for each locker…”

Junpei hadn’t even noticed the numbers until Carlos mentioned them. He nodded and they opened them all up pretty quickly, but only the middle one and the last one yielded any results. There was a block puzzle (which Junpei immediately shoved off onto Carlos to solve), and a card with a candle on it.

Solving the puzzle got them a little key card, and with nothing much else to do, they slid it into the CT scanner. That was thankfully the right thing to do, but it looked like they’d have to scan themselves now. Even if it was probably safe, it still worried Junpei a bit. Perhaps he’d noticed the reserve from Junpei, or maybe he just didn’t care, but Carlos was the first to volunteer. The machine didn’t explode or anything, so that was good- instead, a barcode with the title CARLOS appeared on a screen above the desk in the room.

“Well, I guess I’ll go next…”

“Oh great, I’ll be sure to slice you up good, Junpei.”

“For some reason Aoi, I feel horribly uncomfortable when you say that.”

It was Junpei’s turn to give the blank stare now, lying down on the bed and waiting for the scan to be over. He hopped up maybe a bit too quickly once he was done, waiting for Aoi to go through with it as well before moving over to the desk. It looked like they were all barcodes, so he could probably just run the barcode scanner over all of them… and it looked like his assumption was correct, quickly unlocking a little drawer, revealing an ink bottle and a lug wrench. He handed the ink over to Aoi, who was still carrying the needle.

“What now, then?”

Junpei gave a shrug while Carlos and Aoi looked at each other, waiting a second before Aoi’s hand dove into his pocket, pulling out the card from the locker. He stared at it for a second before going over to the portrait of the woman, readied the needle, and injected ink into the candle she was holding.

“Hold on Aoi, what’re you-“

He was cut off when the ink started to spread- not in a blotch, like he’d expected, but along clear pathways, staining the image. It looked like there were two new ink-candles, and Aoi injected those as well. Actually, he was pretty good with that syringe- Junpei should maybe watch his back after all.

After the ink had stopped spreading, it had left four large X’s, one in each corner. After a moment of feeling around Aoi motioned for Junpei to come over, pointing to one of the marks.

“It feels like there’s a screw there or something, I figure that’s what we need the wrench for. Do it, won’t you?”

“What am I, manual labor?”

“Yes.”

“So cold, Aoi. So cold.”

Aoi gave a derisive snort, not intending to dignify Junpei with another response. Seeing that it was pointless to continue bickering he got to work, and as soon as he’d removed all four of the screws, the portrait lifted up, allowing for a large metal and glass box to slide out.

“Are those the antidotes?”

“I think so- but this box is locked tight…”

Junpei bent down to examine it. There were no other potential clues in the room, so now what? Wait a minute, the stethoscope… he jogged quickly over to the lab coat, and picked it up, then jogged back and handed it over to Carlos.

“You should be able to hear the clicks when it’s at the right number with this. These kinds of locks go right-left-right, and if you mess up a number, you have to restart. Think you can do this one?”

Carlos smiled and nodded, before hushing them both and getting to work. It took him a few tries, but he was better at this than Junpei would’ve thought- it he wasn’t a firefighter, Junpei wondered if he’d be any good at detective work. At the very least, he clearly had the proper knack for getting himself into trouble, considering the situation they were currently in.

When the case finally opened, they all started examining the containers inside in more depth. There was eight of them, from A to H.

“Each one has a little button on it… what are these?”

Junpei was muttering to himself aloud when Zero’s voice came alive again over the speakers, as if he’d been listening.

“Congratulations, C-team. It appears you’ve successfully found the antidote. The poison must be circulating through and making you feel heavy right now. But do not worry, your lives shall be spared if you drink 100cc of the antidote within this case.”

Junpei didn’t want to admit it, but Zero was right. He was forcing his breathing to remain steady, but he could already feel his body’s reaction to the poison. It wasn’t as bad as the dream, not yet, but it would get there.

“If should be obvious that there are eight containers there, labeled A through H. Vials of liquid are within each of these containers. Only one contains the antidote, the other seven are dummies. By pressing the red button in the center, the lock to the container will disengage. Only one may be opened.”

“But then, if we’re wrong, we’ll…”

Carlos looked nervous already. He was visibly wincing, even if it was only ever so slightly- it appeared he was starting to really feel the effects too.

“Still, I am not so cruel… I shall give you a hint. Sitting beneath each button is a sample of the liquid stored within. It is only 1cc, but it is enough to provide a clue to its validity. The antidote has a peculiar characteristic: three minutes after you lick it, the tip of your tongue will become numb. You have five minutes remaining… if my calculations are correct, the poison will have spread completely through you by then, and your life is forfeit. Which case will you open, then? The choice is yours.”

Junpei wasn’t sure he’d ever really understood the term ‘deafening silence’ until he heard the speakers stop, leaving the three of them with utterly nothing. This wasn’t good, this wasn’t good, this wasn’t good…. With every second, Junpei could feel the poison circulating through his body, and every second that he was aware of it, it only raised his panic.

“What do we do. What the _hell_ do we do?!”

He looked back and forth between Aoi and Carlos, trying not to let panic show. He knew how this was going to end, how this _could_ end, and he didn’t want that. Not just for his own sake, but Aoi and Carlos too. Wait, since when had Carlos mattered? Junpei wasn’t sure- wait, why did he care? This was _not_ the right time!

“Sh-should we just go left to right? Carlos, you take A, Aoi, take B, and I’ll-“

“Junpei, _calm down_. There’s a better way to do this.”

Aoi had his full attention, and he forced himself to take a deep breath. He didn’t look too great, but he forced himself to speak calmly and clearly.

“We can’t rely on just picking them at random, we need to think about this. We only have one chance, which means we can’t mess this up. First, Carlos. You take E, F, H, and H. Junpei, you lick C, D, G, and H. I’ll take B, D, F, and H.”

“B-but what about A?”

“Don’t worry, Junpei. If none of us feel a reaction, that means the right answer is A.”

“Alright, then…”

He still didn’t feel entirely safe, but he had no other choice. He did as Aoi told him and licked the samples, the other two doing the same. Then, all they had to do was wait… it was Carlos who checked the time, but Junpei couldn’t just sit still. He could still _feel_ it, both from right now, and from earlier (or technically, was it later?). He could feel the slight burning in his throat, and the pain in the pit of his stomach. The more he thought about it, the more he focused on it and it hurt, but he _couldn’t_ think of anything else.

“It’s been about three minutes… do you guys feel anything? I’m getting nothing…”

“Me too.”

Junpei was frowning. He looked over to Aoi, who seemed to be in a lot of pain. Shit, shit, shit…

“I-I… I feel… it….”

He was only able to give the briefest of confirmations before be collapsed forwards. Junpei moved before he could think, catching Aoi’s body and kneeling to the floor, keeping him from hitting the ground.

“Shit… our resistances… the poison’s getting to him faster.”

Aoi was groaning in pain, his eyes squeezed shut. Junpei hated seeing him like this- he turned to stare at Carlos, but continued to hold onto Aoi tightly.

“Carlos, pick! You _have_ to pick the right one!”

“Wh-what?!”

“Just do it, Carlos!”

“B-But, what was the method he came up with?”

“It’s the one that only Aoi tasted. There was one that only he took.”

“The one only he took….”

Carlos had turned back to the case- Junpei wouldn’t admit it, but the reason he’d left it up to Carlos was that he’d forgotten which was the one only Aoi had taken. Shit, why hadn’t he seen this coming? He’d seen the fucking _poison_ well enough, but obviously not the way to save their lives. He could only pray that Carlos would remember better than Junpei…

“Take this. And give this one to Aoi.”

“Alright.”

Junpei grabbed the two containers, setting one gently beside him, and holding the other in his hands. First came Aoi. His throat was burning, and he could feel his muscles beginning to contract with pain, but Aoi was worse off than he was. He did his best to prop him up, holding the vial to his mouth.

“Aoi… take this. If you can hear me, please…”

One eye opened, and despite the movements clearly being painful, Aoi took the vial in one hand, and downed it in one swig. Once he’d done so, Junpei finally took the antidote himself, hoping that it’d start working quickly before things got any more painful.

Much to his surprise, it actually _did_ work fairly quickly. Within a couple of minutes the aching left, and he found that he was actually feeling alright again. Aoi too, looked much better- he was still leaning on Junpei, he looked a bit weak, but he wasn’t in pain anymore.

“Uh, Junpei? Are you going to let go of me anytime soon?”

He blinked, and flushed red- ok, maybe _that_ was the reason Aoi hadn’t moved… he quickly let go, allowing Aoi to sit up on his own, brushing off his clothes. Junpei was going to say something to alleviate his own awkwardness, but Carlos thankfully took care of that for him first.

“Still… there’s three containers left. What do you guys think these are for…?”

“Of the antidote? That’s weird…”

Aoi had stood up to take a look, and was about to say more, when the voice of an announcement made its way over the speakers. As it spoke, he grew visibly paler, dread seeping its way onto his face.

“Now announcing the current casualties. Q-team: Q, Mira, Eric. These three are now deceased. As a result, three X-passes will be revealed. EYE… KILL… FOOL… That is all.”

 “ _Shit!_ Carlos, Junpei, there’s no time! Grab those and go right to the lounge- _now!_ ”

Aoi ran off first, leaving Junpei and Carlos to shrug, and run quickly after him. Aoi was already fully prepared, with cheese in one hand and Gab in the other. He got them to slip the vials into the container on Gab’s collar, put a coaster Junpei didn’t have time to read in with them, and threw the cheese down the vent.

“Make it in time… dammit, please…”

“Aoi, what was that?”

“Zero said ‘the six of you’. There were six vials of antidote- I think D-team was poisoned too.”

“You’re right, he _did_ say six back then…”

“Then, you’re sending those over for them? I hope they make it in time...”

Carlos smiled as he spoke, clearly worried for D-team but still too relieved to be alive to be too off put.

“Well, in the end, we’re in a win-win situation, right?”

Both of them turned to look at Junpei, unsure of what to think about his statement.

“Don’t you get it? Either they get the antidotes in time, and they live, or…”

“Or they don’t, and six people will be dead. That’s what you mean, right?”

There was audible distaste in Carlos’s voice, and if looks could kill, then Aoi’s glare would’ve killed him off in half a second.

“I’m _kidding_. God, you’re both so stiff.”

They turned away from him and both walked towards the couches, each taking a seat facing away from Junpei.

“Gee, thanks guys. Feeling the love.”

He could hear Aoi give a derisive snort, but neither of them offered a verbal reply. In the end Junpei decided to follow after them regardless, taking a seat on the couch opposite and watching as they both pointedly avoided his view. Well, that was true at least for Aoi- for Carlos, it looked like something was bothering him badly.

“Hey, are you alright? You don’t look to good, maybe the poison’s not all gone yet…”

“No… that’s not it.”

Carlos shook his head and looked away from Aoi.

“Worried about D-team, then? They’re probably fine, just give it a rest.”

Again, Carlos shook his head. He looked like he wanted to say something in retort to Junpei, but thought better of it. Instead, a dark, distant look came over his face as he started to speak.

“Um… Junpei? Look, this might sound a little messed up to you, but… I… I saw something earlier. Like a vision.”

He had both Aoi and Junpei’s attention now, both curious as to what he could say. It wasn’t possible, was it? Could Carlos be…

“Junpei, your head… it was in the pantry. _Just_ your head.”

He wasn’t sure why, but he started to laugh. What other reaction could he really have to news like that? It was insane, but it made perfect sense if you considered one possibility: Carlos was an esper. He wondered how he’d died that time- it probably hurt, being decapitated. He could feel a pain in his chest, between his ribs- a sympathy pain, perhaps? Or maybe, the morphogenetic fields were answering his question.

“Carlos, the hell are you smoking? I’m right here, all limbs attached and accounted for.”

Perhaps it was cruel to so forcefully brush off Carlos, but it was for his own good. The less he knew about the morphogenetic fields, and all this esper crap, the better. Knowing about them didn’t help anyone, it only caused more pain. He could at least keep Carlos out of all this complex bullshit.

“Still, maybe it was like a prophecy, or something…”

“I highly doubt you’re seeing into the future, Carlos.”

“I agree. I don’t think it’s a future you saw, Carlos- it was a different past.”

“What do you mean?”

“Morphogenetic Field theory. A special field that exists in a dimension we can’t perceive, that transmits information. That’s probably what’s happening- Carlos, you accessed the field, and saw another history.”

Of _course_ Aoi had to give an explanation. There went all of Junpei’s earlier hopes, then…

“Carlos, you’re a firefighter. You’ve probably faced death countless times- have you never wondered how not once you’ve run into real trouble?”

“Well, I just go with my gut feelings…”

“Gut feelings can only go so far. Maybe, every time you made a decision in a fire, what was _really_ happening was that you were observing other histories. Histories where you _did_ make that choice, and then you paid the price.”

“This theory… why do you know this, Aoi?”

Carlos didn’t look like he entirely believed it, but he didn’t look like he didn’t believe it either.

“Because I’ve got the same ability. And same with Junpei- he was supposed to use his abilities a year ago…”

He trailed off, but Junpei knew what he had intended to say.

‘ _To save my sister’s life._ ’

“That was- that was a long time ago, Aoi. I…” He sighed, and tried not to be too obvious as he bit the inside of his lip for a second. “I can’t use it like you can. I don’t get to pick when it turns on or off- it just happens. Even now, I-“

He was cut off by the sound of static, then Zero speaking to them.

“Greetings. How does it feel, to revive from the brink of hell? Now, it is time for you to sleep. When next you wake, know that you will have no memory of these past ninety minutes… Pleasant dreams.”

He wanted to say something, to explain more, but there was no time. He felt the needles in the bracelet activate, stabbing into his wrist, and he collapsed to the ground. Who knew when or where he’d be, the next time they woke up…

**Author's Note:**

> I'd hoped to finish this one up yesterday when I found out that Junpei's birthday was the eight, but I got caught up by some schoolwork and had to drop that plan. However, regardless, happy belated birthday, Jumpy! My gift to you is the feeling of death via poison and a bit of potential awkward flirting.
> 
> This one ends kinda abruptly both here and in-game, but now we're about to get into the longer fragments. Next up will probably be the rec room, if I've planned things out correctly. Hopefully it won't take a long to write (because I've been looking forwards to this one for a loooong time), this one was harder because not much really does happen. However! It's still done, and we got a bit of awkward cute out of it. And in my books, that's pretty dang good! Thanks for reading, everyone- I read and love every comment, you guys are making this worthwhile to me.


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